An Innocent Chat over a Mug of Hot Butterbeer
by leviathan15
Summary: Hermione has wanted to know more about Draco since she saw him on the train at the beginning of the year. But how will she? Read and find out! Please review as well!


(A/N: Hi to all my lovely readers! This is my second fic, a stab at a Draco/Hermione relationship. If you prefer more Ron and Harry in the stories, read my other story, "Ron's Decision," which is also a work in progress. And if you live in the U.S, I hope you had a very nice turkey day! Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers on "Ron's Decision": mimibaby, J.S. Writer, Princess Jennifer, dragondaze (lol char) and last but not least, Bobby Jo! (haha Ali) If you guys read this, I PROMISE I will update "Ron's Decision" soon!)  
  
"Hermione? I'm done with my rounds. It's your turn."  
  
Hermione Granger looked up wearily from her desk as Ernie Macmillan poked his head into her room. Sighing, she closed her Charms book, and stood up and stretched. Her room was very quiet; it helped Hermione to concentrate. This was one of the advantages of becoming the Head girl, since you got your own room that wasn't shared with two other giggly girls.  
  
Ernie turned away and Hermione could hear his footsteps receding, and then the sound of a door being shut. As she pulled her messy chestnut hair into a ponytail, she quickly surveyed her surroundings and vowed to clean up her room when she was finished with her rounds.  
  
Hermione shut her door and locked it using a spell, and blearily plodded down the stairs to her small, yet cozy common room she shared with Ernie. He wasn't a bad person, but he was very quiet and a littler boring (to Hermione's standards, that is) when he wasn't surrounded by his classmates, a time when Ernie felt he needed to act pompous and regal. But he was very quiet around her.  
  
"I'm leaving, Ernie!" she called up the stairs as she put on her cloak. The hallways tended to get cold after school hours.  
  
"Bye!"  
  
Hermione climbed out the small portrait hole that served as the entrance to the Head Boy and Head Girl's common room. The hallways were deserted, which came as no surprise since it was about 10 at night and all students were expected to be in their rooms at this time. It was Hermione's job to patrol the corridors for two hours to catch any unruly students. When she had first gotten her Head Girl badge, Ron had asked her what she would do if she caught him sneaking off to the kitchens, as he usually did every night. Hermione had not replied, but instead merely avoided the hallway that led to the painting with the bowl of fruit.  
  
She closed the portrait, then started heading down the silent hallway, her footsteps reverberating off of the walls. Hermione sometimes wished that she wasn't Head Girl, since her duties took up a lot of time that she would rather spend with Ron and Harry. But Hermione felt she was meant to be a leader and a role model for the younger years, so she accepted her position gratefully. Some students only gave her trouble though. especially a blond-haired ferret that loved to get into everyone else's business.  
  
Flashback  
  
"What are you doing here, Malfoy? Get out of our compartment!" yelled Harry at Draco, his wand clenched in his fist.  
  
They all (Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco) were riding on the Hogwarts train to school to start their seventh year. Unfortunately, this train ride had not been as fun as Hermione had remembered previous ones to be; partly since Harry and Ron were bickering about some stupid Quiddich statistic, and Malfoy had been popping his head into the compartment every ten minutes, which was unusual. Hermione suspected he was up to something.  
  
"Yeah, Ferret, go stick your ugly face somewhere else," Ron snarled, coming to stand next to Harry.  
  
Draco leaned casually against the doorframe and smirked at them all. "It's a free country, Potter, and so watch what you say. I can stand anywhere I want." His eyes traveled over them all, then stopped to rest on Hermione. "Well well well, I'll be damned if the Mudblood's been made Head Girl. Did you give Dumbledore a lap dance as to bribe him? Oh no, I forgot, no need to bribe him, since he's such a Mudblood lover."  
  
Hermione said nothing, being used to these sort of comments from Malfoy, but a blush began to spread over her cheeks as she hastily covered her shiny badge with her hand.  
  
"Sod off, Malfoy, or I may have to give you a detention," she said coolly, regaining her wits. Harry meanwhile was trying to hold back a struggling purple-faced Ron that was cursing under his breath.  
  
"Oh, forget it, Granger," Malfoy spat. "I'll make sure you never give me a detention, ever. That you never catch me in any unruly act." But even as his voice remained cold and uncompassionate, Hermione couldn't help noticing a ripple of something deep within his cold glare. She found herself wondering what he was like under the cold, hard exterior and famous name he had made for himself.  
  
With a swish of his robes, Malfoy turned around and strode off. Ron immediately stopped struggling against Harry's grasp and turned to Hermione.  
  
"That slimy bastard!! Are you okay, 'Mione?" he said as his face color slowly returned to normal.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine, Ron," Hermione said distractedly, still thinking about Malfoy.  
  
End of Flashback  
  
As she approached the stairway that led down to the dungeons, her least favorite part of the Hogwarts castle, Hermione tightened he grip on her wand, which was hidden inside her cloak.  
  
"Stop it, Hermione, you're being silly. Who would ever be walking around at this time of night?" she told herself. With a sigh, she headed down the dark and cold stairway.  
  
After checking several empty classrooms to make sure nothing was in disarray by Peeves, Hermione was walking down the hallway when she heard a groan. It was coming from Snape's classroom.  
  
"Bloody door!" she heard someone shout loudly. The vocabulary certainly was Ron's, but the voice was different- It sounded like- But no, it couldn't be-  
  
Hermione whipped out her wand and a pad of Indestroyable Detention slips (which were given to students when they got detentions, but it was impossible to burn, rip, soak, or destroy them as it would make the recipient suddenly come across a powerful case of the hiccups which would not stop until the detention was completed), and rushed down the dark, cold corridor which led to Snape's office.  
  
She saw the door and her mouth dropped open in surprise. Draco Malfoy's upper body was protruding from the door, and a broken lamp lay on the floor among with some small satchels of herbs. His wand was laying inches from his right hand, and he was flushed from trying to extend his arm to reach it.  
  
Hermione quickly covered her surprise and said, "Well, Malfoy, may I ask what a ferret like you are doing down in the dungeons in the middle of the night?"  
  
He stopped reaching and glared up at her. Hermione was pleased to see that his normally perfect blond hair was messily scattered across his forehead.  
  
"None of your business, Granger," he sneered at her.  
  
"Well, it is my duty to ask you, and it is your duty to answer me. Or, I could summon one of the teachers-"  
  
"No!!" cried Malfoy. A flicker of panic crossed his face. The words came out before he could stop himself. "If I get in trouble AGAIN, and get my sixth detention for the year, I'll be expelled and Father will force me into Death Eater training! He said he would if I didn't behave myself again! Dumbledore's already talked to him, and-" he stopped, looking into Hermione's triumphant face.  
  
"Fine, go tell somebody. See if I care," he said, smirking again, but with a very faint tremor in his voice.  
  
Hermione had a difficult decision. Should she tell the teachers, and get Malfoy in trouble (and if she didn't, Harry and Ron would most certainly murder her), or let him go? Hermione wasn't a tattletale by nature, but she also didn't want to lose her Head Girl position. She made up her mind in a second.  
  
"If I free you from Snape's Impenetrable Door, will you go with me for a mug of butterbeer next Hogsmeade weekend?" she asked Draco suddenly. His face turned purple and contorted into a series of odd expressions, but he answered Hermione's question.  
  
"Fine. Only because you forced me to, Mudblood, not because I want to," he said. "Now will you get me out of this damned door??"  
  
Hermione first made Draco sign a magical contract, and then she muttered the counter curse to the door's spell. It spat out Draco onto the stone floor, but he suddenly got up and shot Hermione a death glance.  
  
"See you at the Three Broomsticks, Mudblood," he spat, and then sauntered off with his wand and satchels, combing his hair as he went.  
  
As Hermione watched his retreating back, she smiled to herself. Now se would have a chance to know Draco better, which had been her secret desire ever since she saw him on the train. What was he like under that bad-boy exterior? Was there more spite and maliciousness, or a real gentleman?  
  
She would just have to wait to find out! 


End file.
